Zazen.

Originally there was nothing at all.
Mind becomes the ancestors wall.
Stopping outside and inside.
Light and dark, love n hate.
All the things that make us discriminate.
This and them, Seeing and knowing.
Wisdom and ignorance.
The mind awakes.
You’ve entered the gate.
Zazen!
-Rev.Yao Feng Shakya

 Zen Painting of Bodhidharma by sadmonk

Making Karma.

My life is mine. I must take responsibility for all my actions.
Body, speech and mind. I do not blame others.
Karma is my inheritance past, present & future.
No one person is exempt from this.
If we each own up to it, and reverse our wrongs.
Then we can move forward once again with our lives.
We must be willing to make great sacrifices and changes along the way.
Most of all acceptance that we are the owners of our present life.
This life is what we made of it, not someone else.
If you wish to be happy, be happy.
If you wish to be loved, be love.
If you wish to make Karma, be careful. ;)
-sadmonk

The Transmission.

I share my heart and mind with everyone I meet.
When someone comes along and recognizes
This we become one. The transmission of minds
Is not something special or extraordinary in Zen.
The mind and heart of all beings is the same.
When we know this it is called the Buddha.
Awakened. We touch our innermost selves.
The one that is connected by love and light.
With everyone and everything.
-sadmonk

Affirmations of Love.

From myself this Dharma body flows,
It does not come or go. My love is free.
Yet this cannot mean freedom from
Where karma goes.
My wish is for myself and other
Beings to not be tied up in selfish love.
Instead make love un-conditionally.
Love needs to be released to fly.
-sadmonk

$5.90 and a bunch of Ducks.

$5.90 and a bunch of Ducks.
      What do they have in common? Everything. I rode my bike down to the creek and there were so many ducks swimming and living together within feet of each other, yet never bothering one another and at the same time giving lots of space. So I was wondering to myself why is it so hard for us humans to do the same. Very curious indeed.
      Some evenings late at night I sit on my porch and listen to people laughing, crying, and sometimes screaming and fighting. I believe that we can all live with one another and still get along. I also realized after a falling out with my wife and leaving the house again and finding myself with a school of ducks that there was something here that I was missing in all of this. That sometimes we must have space to think about things and how we act, as opposed to reacting all the time. So needless to say I had to get some space so that I can think and get my head together again. While walking, hurt and angry at myself, I suddenly realized where I was at in my life. Kind of like a life inventory,  I decided nowhere and everywhere, going around in circles like my duck friends who were getting along just fine except for me and mine. I started to get a little dejected again, I guess being married and in a relationship for a decade and a half while pursuing your dreams and then seeing them crumble and rebuild itself again and again is something I don’t know how to deal with all the time. So as usual I don’t like to think about my problems, and I have to escape in someway, run away. I have been doing that since I was young kid.
     When I got to the store I realized that all I had was 5.90 to my name. At this point I knew I was not going to get very far. lol! I have been in situation time and time again. No job, no money, broke, hungry, wishing I had a warm safe place to stay the night. Somebody who cares about me and loves me even though I was so messed up.  These last 15 years of my life after meeting my wife and being adopted into her family.
I have been accustomed to living normally, feeling what it means to have a family again, and sleeping in a bed and having all that I wished for in life. Never being hungry, never having to go back to jail and spend another night on a cold concrete floor. 
     So in closing, it didn’t matter that I only had 5.90. Because my freedom and spending time with my duck friends are priceless. So was returning home to my wife and asking her to forgive me for being so immature.
I am blessed everyday that I am free and alive.
-sadmonk

“Everything is Mind”

Mind is emotion, so why do we let our emotions control us
And consume us. This is when we must understand that we
Have control of our minds (emotions). The doctrine of no-mind in Zen holds onto nothing in the mind even though we all still have emotions. The key to this teaching is so
We finally learn to have control of ourselves and our own lives while not letting others
And situations control us any longer. We do not have to react to a thing in this sense.
It is all in how we react to things and people in life. It is all my choosing.
The difference with having no-mind is in the letting go so we never lose control or
Let our emotions run away with us. So that we learn to walk through life and all of it’s hardships without crumbling, but remaining strong, like a rock.
We all have control of our minds, in Zen we have no-mind which clears our minds
From all the negativity. We do not let our emotions/mind have control of us.
We have learned the art of mastering ourselves, our minds, bodies and hearts.
That would be a Buddha.
The old Zen story about the 2 monks and the master observing a flag blowing in the wind.
The master asks them, “What is blowing!? The first monk says, “It is the wind!”
The second monks says, “It is the flag!” The master says, “Wrong!” It is not the wind
Or the flag that is blowing, it is your very own minds that is blowing all over the place!”
Stop it!
-sadmonk Oct.23, 2010

Love All.

Buddha did not teach some extraordinary truth or profound enlightenment to be passed on. He was not a god or superhuman, neither a perfect being. He taught simply how to live in this world peacefully without causing any more un-necessary suffering to self and others. He taught us how to love one another again and to see that we are all one and the same. Love is the key to all. This love consists of accepting everyone for all their differences. Equanimity, compassion, loving-kindness, giving, and joy for others happiness is the hallmark of the Buddha’s teachings. It’s the only thing I know.
Love all.
-sadmonk

Opening Doors.

“Learning to open again”
All of us at one time or another have become hurt and in our pain we become sad, lonely, angry, depressed and we withdraw from people and life. We learn how to close ourselves off from everything and everybody. Sometimes this is okay and necessary but it also prevents us from living our lives and in some extreme cases can ruin our lives and others. In my suffering, I built my own walls around myself, it was of my own making. I had to close myself off from anymore loss and hurt in my life, I guess I succeeded when I really ended up locked away from the world within prison walls. At that point I stopped caring. I lost trust in myself and in others, I stopped believing that I could ever be happy.  Back then, my life was just a real negative and bad place that took me away from my loved ones. My attitude was, I will never let anyone get close to me again. So, at the worst point in my life, I lost all hope and belief  and in so doing closed myself off from the world and everyone around me.
I changed the way I thought. What I have learned since then will last me lifetimes.
I learned to change the way I thought about myself and others, the world was no longer a bad place, it was a beautiful place. I learned to love myself and others, this is when I opened up again. I believe that everyone I know is special to me and precious. Everyone is my family and I love everyone dearly. I also for the first time seen in myself this compassionate, loving side that somehow I forgot, my inner child. We all have it, we should never forget it.
Life is too short to not love everyone and to most of all be forgiving of ourselves and others. Now, I felt this love opening that changed my whole life. I felt this love for the entire world that overtook me. I felt this universal love for all life and all people. I was called to be a Priest. My whole life changed after that. It was all due to opening up again and changing the way I think about things, life and people. Zen says to empty your cup of tea! Hehe. No joke! :P
Most of all I learned to stop judging others, as others judged me in the past. I care about everyone deeply. I finally learned to open up and fully love again it was the most beautiful thing in the world. To see so many people who like me, just wish to love and be happy and peaceful.
I also believe that others can heal from their pain and suffering in the past and present. Not only can being hurt close us off to receiving what it is that we most desire in life, Whatever it may be. But our hurt can also be our awakening.
Remaining open and loving while we have been hurt is actually a way to help us through the difficult situations we face daily in life. So that we are not closed off anymore, we are able to help ourselves and others. By opening up our hearts again we can begin to heal and that is when this universe will open up with endless possibilities. For we must know that we are only limited and closed in our minds. Truly our minds have no limits, or doors to shut and close on this world. We learn to overcome adversity, hopelessness, negativity, and more importantly just how to live in this world without going insane. To let go of our negative emotions so we are no longer controlled by them.
I know firsthand now what it means to open up to everything and everybody, and I also know what happens when you get past your hurt and pain. All the things in life that have prevented you from your hopes and dreams is now within reach. Buddhism teaches us that life is all a dream, well I have news too, this maybe a dream but one of our own making.
Now you can begin to heal and open up once again. To love fully again and live life for all that's it worth. It is quite a beautiful thing when you realize that through your pain and darkness that you have come to find the light of your inner being and all beings. That now you can create your own world, your own nirvana or paradise, In religions they all talk about a divine spirit and I believe as does the Buddha. That this spirit and light is nothing more then our openness and willingness to love all people and things. That is when we have learned to open up to what we truly are.  -sadmonk

The sadmonk

I call myself the sadmonk because I feel everyone's suffering and I know
that I cannot help save everybody and this world. I know what it is like to be sick and come close to dying many times and the fact that we must all die someday makes me very sad. Especially when we have no Idea when, how or why. These are questions I have been asking myself my whole life. To have my father and sister die so young and so many of my friends. To be locked away in a cage for 23 hours a day with no light months on end. To hold my family in my hands while they have passed on due to peoples carelessness and desires. That is how my name came about . I know that suffering can be overcome, and that is how my calling came about, and how all I wish for in this world with all my heart is for everybody to love each other and stop fighting.  To get along, be nice, kind and say and do things that only cause people happiness and joy. To bring everyone together and live and love in peace.
No attachments, no nothing that interferes with peoples rights & freedoms. No more judgments and hurt feelings. Forgiveness and care. To live not in fear, but in hope and goodwill.
With all my heart and being I have to get people to love one another no matter what. Everybody. That is my purpose. Peace.
This is what everyone in the world needs to live & survive.
If we cannot get along in this life, then which life will we choose? All the wise people of this world have been telling us to love everyone for ages past, present and future. The seeds of love we sow now is what makes our future which is actually right now.
How long do we not listen and just crave for
Other people and more money and material things in life? Not knowing
All along what we have in front of us, which is a miracle and a blessing.
It has always been said; Love everyone as you do yourself. Not some, but all. The world is your family.
Every moment of everyday I send my love
To everyone in this world. I pray that what we all wish for in this life comes true.
-sadmonk

No more likes and dislikes, I am Zen.

There is no difference between the person who works
And lives in the real world, then the one who has given up on it.
One left, one stayed. One hated, one prayed.
Some lose hope and others chase dreams.
No one in this world is more special then another.
In Zen ones coming and going is understood as not
Coming and going. No more ups and downs, likes and dislikes.
I am Zen!
-sadmonk 2010

Sadmonk's Meditation.

This is what I see everyday.
The birds sing to me.
They come and land on me.
They told me we are free,
and thanks for feeding me.
The trees hug me,
I hug them back.
The children hang out with me,
They like someone who laughs.
If you always smile your sure to
be young all your life is true.
My friends love me,
and I love you!
My family shelters me,
the universe provides.
My world is beautiful,
all beings are divine.
I live in heaven,
not some other time.
All because I stopped
and listened, cared.
Without wanting to be anything but free.
I learned how to fly, from some friends of mine.
Thank you.
-sadmonk 2008

What is not Buddha?

Your mind is the Buddha. .
This Buddha is none other then the mind.
It is neither still or moving, yet flows endlessly.
Meditating, working, playing there is no difference
In what the Buddha does. The mind of the Buddha
Does not see differences in things, judges no one. Is one with all.
Therefore you do not have to meditate in a temple,
Or pray to be saved. For this light that is within you.
Is the same light of the Buddha and all beings.
This light is none other then your very own mind, heart and body.
No need to look for something that you have had all along.
Same goes for love and everything else. We are complete.
One. Awakened, completely enlightened.
Anuttarra Samyak Sambodhi
-sadmonk

Zen Buddhism teaches Equality amongst all Religions.

Buddhism sees all other religions and spiritual paths as equal.
That is the spirit and the heart of the Buddha and what he taught.
It also follows that all beings, and all teachings are equal and at one with another.
There is no one ultimate teaching or one way towards our salvation and the saving of the world.
Each founder of these great world's religions taught un-conditional love and equality for all.
Now it is up to each individual and group to be accepting of others and there beliefs
in the name of world peace. So no matter what religion you believe in or don’t, the Buddha’s teachings can help you to understand yourself and your own faith better. Whether you follow a religion or it's body of religious teachings, it does not matter. What matters is our hearts.
Buddhism is the teachings of compassion, wisdom, loving-kindness, and joy.
Please, I welcome you to bring the Buddhas teachings into your own life and experiences,
for your own peace of mind and that of others.
One religion or path is not greater or lesser then another. They are a written testimony
of humanties heart and soul. A way for others to free themselves from the chains that bind them.
From our darkest hours to our brightest days.
We are really all the same.
Love n Light.
-Rev.Yao

Letting go of the past.

Lived my life chasing my dreams,
Getting high, partying, stealing and not
Caring about a thing.
My family dying and leaving.
The great parting.
I found my bliss in a needle.
I found myself inside of  a prison cell.
I trusted no man, lived on the streets.
Concrete is my bed, the bridges my home.
This is all I have known. Inhumanity all around.
Indifference and not caring if I lived or died.
One day I awoke from my dream.
To find myself engulfed in love & light.
I changed my life.
No longer alone, I found my home.
The heart within me and you.
Where nothing else matters.
-sadmonk

Birds of Love.

Birds of love
In a cage.
Not knowing,
They can sing and fly.
Birds of love.
Set free.
Knowing,
Blue skies.
Free to fly.
-sadmonk

Pieces of my heart.

You and me.
Together for all eternity.
In the beginning, in the end.
Love does not die or begin.
Or does it.
Even when I left,
You stayed with me.
I missed you so bad,
My heart aches, I want you with me.
The love we once had is gone,
And I miss you.
The pieces of my heart,
Scattered everywhere.
I look for myself and I cannot be found.
For all I see & feel is love all around.
-sadmonk

The Four Acceptances and Transformations.

 The 4 Acceptances & Transformations

I accept and transform my sadness, hurt & pain into listening, sharing and helping others.


I accept and transform my body, speech and mind into a conduit of love n light.


I accept and transform my anger, hatred & jealousy into compassion and joy for others.

 
I accept and transform my negative mind into the positive one by thinking good thoughts about others, self and the world that I live in.

 By accepting and transforming ourselves we are following the natural way of life by living and loving in the interconnectedness of all things.
We are each on the path of self-realization in order to benefit all beings. For all beings are ourselves. We are all one, different and the same.
-sadmonk

Love and Light.

We are all born into this world to learn to love one another again. This is why we are here, learning to love one another over and over again until we get it right. To stop competing and fighting. To not talk about others or put others down. But to wish happiness and well being for them. To do what is right and good in this world. That kind of love which is concerned about every living individual. The ultimate goal of all religious faiths is to love everyone, this is really not that hard to do if you are accepting of other peoples beliefs. If we want to make a difference in this world, then this is what I teach, love everyone and help those who are suffering. To love everyone those closest to you and those afar. Everything in this life needs our love, everything, everybody. Otherwise we risk losing ourselves, each other & everything. So reach out to those closest to you right now and listen to them, be their for them, and share. Give them your love unconditionally, with no judgments, and the results are boundless, infinite. When we have found one another again, and our hearts and minds are full of love n light. Then we are one. Always together, never apart. True love according to Buddha was friendship, a love that does not take or give away, but remains with us always. Constant,  never ending.
Kalyana Mitra/Spiritual Friendship.
-The sadmonk